The estuarine whiting, ''Sillago vincenti'' (also known as Vincent's whiting), is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

of the smelt-whiting family,

Sillaginidae The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fish in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo ...

. The estuarine whiting is very similar in appearance to the northern whiting, ''Sillago sihama'', and as such was mistaken for the latter until 1980, when R.J. McKay identified the species based primarily on swimbladder morphology. The estuarine whiting is distributed along both the east and west coasts of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, primarily inhabiting the muddy substrates of

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. The species is locally important to

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

in India, and is recognized as having

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

potential.

Taxonomy and naming

The estuarine whiting is one of 29

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Sillago'', which is one of three genera of the smelt whiting

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. The smelt-whitings are Perciformes in the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Percoidea. The species was first scientifically described by Roland McKay of the Queensland Museum in 1980, who was the first to recognize it as a distinct species from the anatomically similar '' S. sihama''. McKay designated a specimen collected in 1965 from

Mandapam Camp Mandapam Camp was built in the early 1900s by the British Government to house migrant plantation workers coming to India from Sri Lanka. The Camp is located in South India, 700 km South of Chennai (formerly known as Madras), the capital of th ...

to be the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

. It is commonly known as the estuarine whiting in reference to its preferred habitat, as well as Vincent's whiting in relation to its specific name. In India it is also referred to as 'Kalimeen'.

Etymology

The fish is named in honor of S. G. Vincent, a Technical Officer of the

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute was established in the government of India on 3 February 1947 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and later, in 1967, it joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR ...

Cochin, India Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Ke ...

, for his assistance in collecting the type specimens.

Description

The estuarine whiting is very similar to ''S. sihama'' in its external

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

, with a dissection of the swimbladder required to identify the species in the field. The species is known to reach a maximum length of 30 cm. The external morphology is similar to all sillaginids, having a fairly straight ventral profile and a slightly curved dorsal profile. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

is composed of two sections, the first consisting of 11 spines, while the second, longer dorsal has a single spine followed by 21 to 23

soft rays Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fish. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology co ...

posteriorally. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has two spines and is followed by 22 or 24 soft rays. The

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

are ctenoid in nature except for the cheek scales, of which there are 2 rows of

cycloid scale A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...

s. There are 70 to 74

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

scales and 34

vertebrae The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...

in total. The

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

extremity of the swimbladder has a very short bulbous projection with 1 to 3 short anterolateral lobate or recurved extensions either side of the central projection. There is a single post

coelomic A body cavity is any space or compartment, or potential space, in an animal body. Cavities accommodate organs and other structures; cavities as potential spaces contain fluid. The two largest human body cavities are the ventral body cavity, and ...

extension and a duct like process on the ventral surface that continues to the vent. The estuarine whiting's body and head are sandy to light olive above with a silvery side and a whitish belly. The head has a deeper golden tinge, as do parts of the silvery sides, which do not have a distinct lateral silver band. The eye has a silver iris and a golden outer surface, while the

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

has a dusky tinge. The

opercle The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contains four bon ...

is also dark yellow to golden. The spinous dorsal fin is

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

with the tips of the membranes dusky and blotched with fine dusted black spots. The second dorsal fin is hyaline to pale white with 5 to 7 rows of blackish spots, giving a vague appearance of lateral bands. The anal fin is also hyaline to milky white with white or yellow tips. The

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

base is golden yellow, the ventral is white with a yellowish tip and the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is hyaline to dusky.

Distribution and habitat

The estuarine whiting is distributed on both the eastern and western

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

s of

, with an apparent break in its range on the southern tip of India. This would suggest there are two separate

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

s, but it is possible the fish has just not been identified correctly in this region. The species occurs in shallow inshore waters between 0 and 10 m deep, usually frequenting

with

mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

dy substrates. Estuarine whiting have also been known to form schools with northern whiting in these environments, adding to identification problems.

Biology and fishery

The biology and

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

of the species is relatively unknown, with only two studies concentrated on estuarine whiting. In his description of ''S. vincenti'', McKay noted that

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

bearing females of 25 to 28 cm in length were present in January and February, suggesting this to be at least part of the spawning period. The second study was an investigation into the species diet, and was presented at the First Indian Fisheries Forum held in 1987. The publication of this meeting's proceedings is somewhat rare outside of India and thus can not be commented on at the present. Estuarine whiting, along with other common sillaginids, are locally important to

in India. Fishermen often catch the species in the upper reaches of estuaries, making it important in many communities situated in

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

ic regions of India. The species is recognized as having considerable potential for

in impoundments and tidal ponds, with a reported rapid growth rate.

References

External links

''Sillago vincenti'' at Fishbase

Encyclopedia of Life page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2363434 Sillaginidae Taxa named by Roland J. McKay Fish described in 1980